1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digital mixer that is provided with a plurality of control programs for providing centralized control of acoustic equipment, and a method of controlling such a digital mixer, and more particularly to a digital mixer that controls the respective versions of the control programs and a method of controlling such a digital mixer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there have been proposed digital mixers for controlling acoustic equipment installed in a hall where concerts or plays are given. Such acoustic equipment includes a large number of microphones and a large number of loudspeakers, and uses various sound effects and the like. The digital mixer controls in a centralized manner a mixing process for mixing a number of input signals, an effect applying process for applying effects to the mixed signal, and a selection process for selecting an output system from a plurality of output systems, to output the signal having the effects applied thereto.
A digital mixer of the above type has been disclosed e.g. by Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2000-293180, in which a console and an engine are separated from each other with the console disposed on an operator side and the engine on a player side, and connected to each other by cables. The mixer of this type has a large amount of processing to be executed, and therefore hardware and software provided for the digital mixer are divided into a plurality of functional blocks according to the processes to be executed. The functional blocks are each controlled by one or more CPU's, and cooperate with each other to achieve the overall operation of the digital mixer. A control program (so-called firmware) executed by the CPU or CPU's for each functional block is stored on a predetermined storage area provided for the functional block. The respective versions of the control programs for the functional blocks are controlled, and can be upgraded.
Further, Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-396105 has proposed a system for a console-and-engine separation type digital mixer, in which a PC (personal computer) is connected to either a console or an engine of the mixer, to execute an upgrade program for upgrading control programs, and the console checks the respective versions of devices, as a master.
The above upgrade method employed by the console-and-engine separation type digital mixer makes it possible to simultaneously upgrade the control programs for all functional blocks included in devices currently connected to the digital mixer, by one-time upgrade operation.
However, even if this upgrade method is employed, a case can occur where versions of some functional blocks of the mixer do not match those of the other functional blocks. For example, the versions of programs for functional blocks of a device which is not connected to the digital mixer when the upgrade operation is executed are not upgraded. Therefore, when the device is connected to the digital mixer after the execution of the upgrade operation, a mismatch can occur between the versions of the programs for the functional blocks of the device and those of the functional blocks of the other devices. Similarly, when a failure of a functional block provided on a board is detected, if the board is replaced with a new board, a mismatch can occur between the version of the control program for the functional block provided on the new board and those of the control programs for the other functional blocks. If the digital mixer is operated with a mismatch in versions of control programs therefor, malfunction of the digital mixer can be caused, and in the worst case, the device connected to the digital mixer can be broken.
Further, when at least one of a plurality of functional blocks of the control system provided for the digital mixer fails, the operation of the digital mixer stops. In other words, unless all the functional blocks of the control system normally operate, the overall operation of the digital mixer cannot be normally performed.